CRÓNICA. GA2-240202501-AA1-EV03 

ENRIQUE GIRALDO PUENTES   

CHRONICLE ENVELOPE 

Ada Lovelace: The woman who dreamed of machines 

 ¿Can you imagine how the world would be without computers? You probably wouldn’t be able to read this article or do many other things that we take for granted today. However, there was a time when computers didn’t exist and they were only an-idea in the mind of a few visionaries. One of them was Charles Babbage, a British mathematician and inventor who designed the first machine capable of performing complex calculations: the Analytical Engine. But Babbage didn’t work alone. He had an exceptional collaborator who helped him develop his project and who anticipated his time with her ideas about the potential of machines: Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace was born in London in 1815. She was the daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron and Anne Isabella Milbanke. Her father left her when she was a baby and her mother took care of her education. Ada was a prodigy child and showed an early aptitude for mathematics. She received private lessons from some of the best mathematicians of the time and soon became an expert in the field. In 1843, Ada met Charles Babbage, who showed her his project of the Analytical Engine. Ada was fascinated by the machine and started to work with Babbage on its development. She translated into English an article written by the Italian mathematician Luigi Federico Menabrea on Babbage’s machine and added her own notes and comments. In her notes, Ada described how the Analytical Engine could be used to calculate Bernoulli numbers. This was the first time that someone described how a machine could be used to perform a mathematical calculation. Ada’s work on the Analytical Engine is considered the first example of computer programming. She is considered the first programmer in history. Ada died in 1852 at the age of 36. She left behind a legacy of pioneering work in computer science. Her work helped to lay the foundation for the development of modern computers. Ada Lovelace was an extraordinary woman who defied the prejudices and limitations of her time. Her vision and creativity allowed her to see beyond the obvious and dream of the infinite possibilities of machines. Her story inspires us to keep learning and exploring new horizons.